Methods for determining signal transduction activity in tumors

ABSTRACT

The method of the invention pertains to determining the signal transduction activity in a tissue section by immunohistochemistry techniques. The expression level of the receptor of interest is determined as well as the expression levels of one or more effector molecules of the receptor signal transduction pathway. Furthermore a combined ratio of expression levels of effector molecules in subcellular compartments with the receptor expression was found to have prognostic significance.

This application is a 371 national stage application of PCT/US2007/011052, filed May 7, 2007, which claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/797,932, filed May 5, 2006. The entire contents of each of these applications are hereby incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

Receptor tyrosine kinase signaling and other receptor mediated signaling pathways typically progress through a pathway that includes ligand binding, receptor activation, phosphorylation of signaling intermediary proteins in the cytoplasm that amplify or network the signal, translocation of a subset of the signaling proteins into the nucleus, followed by activation of transcription, by either the translocated protein or other nuclear co-factors.

EGFR (HER1) is a member of the HER family of receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs). Each RTK has a ligand-binding domain, a single membrane-spanning region, and a cytoplasmic tyrosine-kinase-containing domain. Under normal physiological conditions, activation typically is controlled by both the temporal and spatial expression of the RTK ligands including mechanisms such as homo- or hetero-dimerization of receptors, activation of kinase domains, phosphorylation, and resulting docking sites in modified domains that allow for activation of downstream signaling pathways involved in growth, proliferation, and/or survival such as Ras/MAPK, PI3K/Akt, PLCγ, and STAT. Dysregulation of the EGFR/HER1 signaling pathway is known to be involved in the development and growth of many tumors, including bladder, brain, breast, colon, esophagus, head, kidney, lung, ovary, neck, pancreas, prostate and stomach. (See e.g., Marmor, M. D., K. B. Skaria, and Y. Yarden. 2004. Signal transduction and oncogenesis by ErbB/HER receptors Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys. 58:903-913; Olayioye, M. A., R. M. Neve, H. A. Lane, and N. E. Hynes. 2000. The ErbB signaling network: receptor heterodimerization in development and cancer. EMBO J. 19:3159-3167; Riese, D. J., and D. F. Stern. 1998. Specificity within the EGF family/ErbB receptor family signaling network. Bioessays. 20:41-48; Schlessinger, J. 2004. Common and distinct elements in cellular signaling via EGF and FGF receptors. Science. 306:1506-1507; and Yarden, Y., and M. X. Sliwkowski. 2001. Untangling the ErbB signalling network. Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. 2:127-137.)

The monoclonal antibody Erbitux (cetuximab), which targets EGFR, has FDA approval for the treatment of colorectal cancer. In addition, Iressa and Tarceva, two small molecules that target EGFR, have FDA approval for non small cell lung cancer. DakoCytomation California, Inc. provides an FDA approved companion diagnostic that can detect EGFR in patient biopsies. This test can be useful, for example to identify patients, who should respond favorably to EGFR targeted therapeutics. However, experience has shown that currently available EGFR diagnostic tests do not correlate well with patient response to treatment with and EGFR targeted therapeutic.

US2006/0094068 and US2007/0059785 each teach an assay for one or another of a molecular marker (which may include pERK or a total cytoplasmic ERK compared to total nuclear ERK) that may be useful in predicting if an individual will or determining if an individual patient is responding to treatment with an EGF or EGFR inhibitor. The method requires a pre and post treatment biopsy from a subject treated with an EGF or EGFR inhibitor.

There is a need for methods for determining the signal transduction pathway activation state with specific reference to the receptor of interest which likely requires that the receptor and pathway effector molecule expression levels be determined in the same assay to achieve adequate levels of accuracy.

There is also a need for methods for determining the signal transduction pathway activation state associated with a receptor that evaluates more than one possible pathway in the same assay.

There is also a need for an assay that does not require a post treatment biopsy. The lability of phosphorylated proteins, even during short ischemic times between tissue excision and fixation (or freezing) may limit the clinical utility of an assay based strictly on detection of phosphorylated proteins. Therefore there is also a need to devise alternative strategies for determining signal transduction pathway activation state without relying on accurate detection of phosphorylated effector molecules, especially for those molecules that turn out to be unstable in routine clinical practice or when suitably specific detection reagents are not available.

There is also a need for a method that can provide prognostic information based on the receptor expression and the signal transduction pathway(s) activation state.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect, the invention features an immunohistochemical assay method for measuring signal transduction pathway activity in a tissue section. In one embodiment the method includes staining the tissue section with 1) reagents to detect the cell receptor protein of interest 2) reagents to detect at least one signal transduction effector molecule and analyzing the stained section to quantitate the relative amounts of receptor protein and effector molecule. In one embodiment, two effector molecule expression levels are detected and in another embodiment, three effector molecule expression levels are detected. Furthermore by determining the ratio of effector molecule expression levels in the nucleus compared to the cytoplasm, signal transduction activity may be determined. In a particular embodiment of the invention, the cytoplasmic to nuclear expression ratio of three downstream effector molecules combined with the receptor expression level had prognostic significance.

In another aspect, the invention features kits useful for carrying out the described methods.

Analyses of tumors for the expression level of EGFR and the ratio of the amount of at least one EGFR downstream effector molecule in the nucleus to that in the cytoplasm provides an indication of the activation level of an EGFR signaling pathway in a particular tumor. This important information can be useful, for example, for: (a) prognostic classification of patients, (b) prediction of drug response, (c) selection of patients for biospecific therapies (such as, but not limited to, drugs targeting EGFR or HER-family signaling), (d) identification of responders to drugs and/or for identification of drug resistance. Quantitating multiple EGFR downstream effector molecules and averaging the nuclear/cytoplasmic ratios for each can normalize for variations (e.g., due to fixation conditions, etc.), thus providing classificatory power beyond that achievable through quantitative measurements of single markers.

Other features and advantages will be apparent based on the following Detailed Description and Claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a graph plotting the cumulative survival against survival time (in months).

FIG. 2A plots the results of a supervised hierarchical clustering analysis performed by grouping specimens by mean AQUA® technology score for EGFR and mean Signaling Quotient (SQ) for Akt1, Erk1/2 and Stat3. Four key groups of tumors were observed. In FIG. 2B, the Kaplan-Meier survival plot demonstrates that there was not a significant difference in survival between these 4 groups.

FIG. 3A shows the survival analysis split by optimal cut-point by X-tile for EGFR expression and the average nuclear:cytoplasmic ratios (a more rigorous grouping than shown in FIG. 2 above).

FIG. 3B indicates that the SQ alone does not significantly correlate with overall survival.

FIG. 3C, however, demonstrates that combining EGFR expression with the SQ resulted in significant (p=0.008) observed differences in three-year disease specific survival between all four groups.

FIG. 4A shows the survival analysis split by the mean score (Z-score=0) for EGFR expression and the average nuclear:cytoplasmic ratios. Patients with high EGFR and low signaling quotient have the worst prognosis.

FIG. 4B indicates that the SQ alone does not significantly correlate with overall survival.

FIG. 4C, however, demonstrates that combining EGFR expression with the SQ resulted in significant (p=0.028) observed differences in three-year disease specific survival between all four groups. Groups A-D are distinct from those shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 schematically depicts EGFR on the membrane of the cell and the downstream effectors Akt, Erk, and Stat3 in the cytoplasm and nucleus.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Definitions

For convenience, before further description of the present invention, certain terms employed in the specification, examples and appended claims are defined here. The singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

The term “antibody” as used herein is intended to include whole antibodies, e.g., of any isotype (IgG, IgA, IgM, IgE, etc), and includes fragments thereof which are also specifically reactive with a vertebrate, e.g., mammalian, protein. Antibodies can be fragmented using conventional techniques and the fragments screened for utility in the same manner as described above for whole antibodies. Thus, the term includes segments of proteolytically-cleaved or recombinantly-prepared portions of an antibody molecule that are capable of selectively reacting with a certain protein. Nonlimiting examples of such proteolytic and/or recombinant fragments include Fab, F(ab′)2, Fab′, Fv, and single chain antibodies (scFv) containing a V[L] and/or V[H] domain joined by a peptide linker. The scFv's may be covalently or non-covalently linked to form antibodies having two or more binding sites. The subject invention includes polyclonal, monoclonal, or other purified preparations of antibodies and recombinant antibodies. An antibody used for detection of a biomarker of the present invention may be a labeled antibody. The labeled antibody may comprise a fluorescent label for detection.

The term “biomarker” may refer to any constituent of a cell in a tissue, including for example a protein whose presence, concentration, activity, phosphorylation state, subcellular localization profile and/or translocation state may be determined. A “biomarker” may refer to a protein that is a member of the EGFR signal transduction pathway including EGFR and EGFR downstream effector molecules.

The term “cut-point” refers to the point at which the data is divided. For example, a patient population may be divided at a cut-point x into a group of high biomarker expressors (≧x) and a group of low biomarker expressors (≦x) (See e.g., Camp, R. L. et al., (2004) X-tile: a new bioinformatics tool for biomarker assessment and outcome-based cut-point optimization 9. Clin. Cancer Res. 10:7252-7259.)

“Drugs” in accordance with the methods provided herein include, inter alia, proteins, nucleic acids including DNA, RNA, RNAi, PNA, ribozymes, antibodies, small molecules, ligands, and the like, for which the drug's effect on a target signal transduction pathway is under investigation, or is known and used to determine appropriate patient populations that are predicted to respond to the drug. The term “drug” is inclusive of natural or synthetic compounds, including candidate therapeutics.

The phrase “effector molecule” refers to any molecule in a cell signaling pathway The phrase “end effector molecule” refers to any molecule in a cell signaling pathway, that is capable of translocating between the cell cytoplasm and nucleus. Preferred effector molecules include: thymoma viral protooncogene 1 (Akt1 or Akt or PKB/Akt or PKBalpha; the human protein sequence for which is provided as NCBI accession no. AAL55732), Signal transduction and activator of transcription 3 or acute phase responder factor (Stat3; the human protein sequence for which is provided as NCBI accession no. AAK17196)) and mitogen-activated protein kinase 3 (MAPK3 or Erk1; the human protein sequence for which is provided as NCBI accession no. AAH13754), Grb2, Ras, mTOR, GSK3, eIF2B, NFkB, CREB, JAK. EGFR downstream effector molecules may or may not be phosphorylated at any given time.

“EGFR or Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor” also referred to as HER1 or ErbB-1 is a cell surface receptor member of the epidermal growth factor family. The human EGFR protein is provided in NCBI Accession Nos. NP_(—)958439 and NP_(—)958441, the sequences of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference.

A “signaling profile” refers to the combination of a receptor expression level for a particular tumor and the expression level of at least one effector molecule. In a preferred embodiment the signaling profile is the combination of the EGFR expression level for a particular tumor and the average nuclear to cytoplasmic ratio for at least one downstream effector molecule.

An “EGFR targeted therapeutic” refers to a drug that targets EGFR in a subject, examples, include but are not limited to Erbitux (cetuximab), Iressa and Tarceva.

A “patient” or “subject” may mean either a human or non-human animal.

“Protein”, “polypeptide” and “peptide” are used interchangeably herein when referring to a gene product, e.g., as may be encoded by a nucleic acid coding sequence.

“Signaling quotient” refers to the averaged nuclear:cytoplasmic ratio for at least one receptor downstream effector molecule.

“Signaling potential” refers to the relative activity of a tumor cell signal transduction pathway. Tumors with active signaling pathways are expected to be more aggressive resulting in a decreased patient survival time. Conversely, tumors with inactive signaling pathways are expected to be less aggressive resulting in an increased patient survival time.

“Small molecule” refers to a composition, which has a molecular weight of less than about 2000 kDa. Small molecules may be nucleic acids, peptides, polypeptides, peptidomimetics, carbohydrates, lipids or other organic (carbon-containing) or inorganic molecules. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, based on the present description, libraries of chemical and/or biological mixtures, often fungal, bacterial, or algal extracts, may be screened with any of the assays of the invention to identify compounds that modulate a bioactivity.

A “subcellular localization profile” refers to the level of a receptor downstream effector molecule in a subcellular location for example the cell nucleus or the cell cytoplasm. In a preferred embodiment the subcellular localization profile is the level of an end effector molecule in the nucleus compared to the level of the same effector molecule in the cytoplasm. The subcellular localization profile may be expressed in terms of a ratio (or the log of a ratio).

A “tissue sample”, as used herein, refers to a biological sample obtained from a tissue in the body, for example a biopsy. In a preferred embodiment the tissue sample is of a tumor. Frequently the tissue sample will be a “clinical sample,” which is a sample derived from a patient such as a fine needle biopsy sample. A “tissue sample” may also include a section of tissue such as a section taken from a frozen or fixed tumor. Tissue samples can be obtained from tumors of for example but not limited to the bladder, brain, breast, uterus, cervix, colon, rectum, esophagus, mouth, head, skin, kidney, lung, ovary, neck, pancreas, prostate, testis, liver and stomach. The tissue sample may be present on a tissue array or may comprise a whole tissue section. An “evenly matched” tissue sample is a tissue sample of the same type (i.e. comprising the same types of cells from the same type of tumor from the same type of subject). “Evenly matched” tissue samples can be used to provide reference profiles in the methods provided herein.

A “tumor” refers to an abnormal growth of tissue that may be comprised of cells that for example, express the epidermal growth factor receptor on their cellular membranes. Tumors may be present, for example, in the bladder, brain, breast, uterus, cervix, colon, rectum, esophagus, head, skin, kidney, lung (including Non Small Cell Lung Cancer), ovary, neck, pancreas, prostate, testis, liver and stomach.

General Description

The present invention is based on the finding that it is possible to assay for a receptor molecule and one or more downstream effector molecules in the receptor signal transduction pathway in tissue sections by immunohistochemical methods to determine an activation status of the pathway and to provide prognostic information. More specifically the invention pertains to an immunohistochemical method for measuring the activity of a signal transduction pathway in a tissue section including the following steps:

-   -   1) staining the tissue section with a reagent to detect a cell         receptor protein; and     -   2) staining the tissue section with a second reagent to detect         an effector molecule, the effector molecule being a member of         the signal transduction pathway of the cell receptor protein;     -   3) using a microscope, obtaining a high resolution digital image         of the stained cell receptor protein in the tissue section and         of the stained effector molecule in the tissue section; and     -   4) analyzing the digital image to quantitate an amount of the         cell receptor protein present in the tissue section and an         amount of effector molecule present in the tissue section;         thereby determining the signal transduction activity in the         tissue section.

A specific embodiment of the present invention is based on the surprising finding that patients with tumors that express relatively high levels of EGFR, but have a relatively low signaling quotient (i.e. higher cytoplasmic signal relative to nuclear for at least one downstream effector molecule) have the lowest survival rate. Although not wishing to be bound by theory, it is thought that tumor cells with a higher total cytoplasmic level of an effector molecule relative to the nuclear level of the effector molecule have greater signaling potential because more molecules are available for activation. In support of this hypothesis, it has been shown that nuclear accumulation of Erk1/2 is transient and nuclear Erk1/2 is quickly relocalized to the cytoplasm to await the next round of stimulation. (Adachi, M et al., (2000) Nuclear export of MAP kinase (ERK) involves a MAP kinase kinase (MEK)-dependent active transport mechanism. J. Cell. Biol. 148:849-856.)

Based on these findings, the invention features methods and kits for determining the signaling profile of tumors (i.e., the relative amount of receptor expressed and the signaling quotient (relative ratio of the amount of each downstream effector expressed in the nucleus over the amount expressed in the cytoplasm). A method for determining the signaling profile of a tumor comprises determining the level of receptor in a tissue sample from a tumor and at least one receptor effector molecule. In addition to quantitation of EGFR, for example, a method for determining the EGFR signaling profile of a tumor also comprises determining the nuclear and cytoplasmic levels of at least one EGFR downstream effector molecule in the tissue section. Either the phosphorylated or non-phosphorylated proteins may be measured. As an example, the levels of total downstream effector molecules in the cytoplasm may be measured, while the levels of total downstream effector molecules in the nuclear compartment may be measured. Alternatively, total p-effector molecule in the cytoplasm and total p-effector molecule in the nucleus may be measured.

The nuclear and cytoplasmic levels of the at least one EGFR downstream effector molecule in the tumor tissue are then compared to each other to determine a relative localization (cytoplasmic or nuclear) of the at least one EGFR downstream effector molecule in the subject's tumor. In one aspect, the present methods comprise determining whether Erk, AKT, Stat3, and/or other EGFR downstream effector molecule is more localized in the cytoplasm of tumor cells in the sample, or is more localized in the nucleus of tumor cells in the sample. Any suitable method of determining the relative localization of a specific biological marker may be utilized in the present methods. In one aspect, receptor levels and the nuclear and cytoplasmic levels of the at least one downstream effector molecule in the sample are specifically determined, and a ratio of the determined nuclear to cytoplasmic levels (a “nuclear to cytoplasmic ratio”) is calculated to determine the relative localization and used in the context of the receptor level. In another embodiment, a “signaling quotient” may be calculated for determining the relative localization of the at least one downstream effector molecule in the sample and used in the context of the receptor level. As an example, the Signaling Quotient may be expressed as the log transformation of the average of 3 or another number of calculated ratios for nuclear:cytoplasmic levels of one or more EGFR downstream effector molecules.

The relative localization of the at least one EGFR downstream effector molecule, whether expressed as a simple ratio or Signaling Quotient or other form, is then compared to a reference from parameters determined from known patient stratification. The reference may be determined experimentally or may be a predetermined value from an already existing dataset. If the at least one EGFR downstream effector molecule in the tissue sample is determined to be localized more to the cytoplasmic compartment than the nuclear compartment, relative to a reference, and the difference in localization relative to the reference is significant, then the tumor is deemed aggressive, provided that the tumor has also been determined to have a relatively high EGFR expression level (as described above). If, however, the at least one EGFR downstream effector molecule in the tissue sample is determined to be localized more to the cytoplasmic compartment than the nuclear compartment relative to a reference, and the tumor has also been determined to have a relatively low EGFR expression level (as described above), and the difference in localization relative to the reference is significant, then the tumor is deemed as relatively less aggressive. Furthermore, if the at least one EGFR downstream effector molecule in the tissue sample is determined to be more localized to the nuclear compartment than the cytoplasmic compartment relative to a reference, and the tumor has also been determined to have a relatively low EGFR expression level (as described above), and the difference in localization relative to the reference is significant, then the tumor is deemed similarly relatively less aggressive. If the at least one EGFR downstream effector molecule in the tissue sample is determined to be more localized to the nuclear compartment than the cytoplasmic compartment relative to a reference, and the tumor has also been determined to have a relatively high EGFR expression level (as described above), and the difference in localization relative to the reference is significant, then the tumor is deemed relatively moderately to less aggressive.

EGFR and downstream effector molecules may be measured by any suitable means as is known in the art. For assessment of signal activation, the log of the signaling quotient can be used to adjust for non-normal distribution that results from construction of a ratio.

Tissue Preparation Tissue samples are obtained from the body and include cells and extracellular matter. Tissue samples may be from humans or non human animals. Tissue samples can be from any organ and may include disease states of such organs. Tissue samples such as tumor biopsies can be obtained using known procedures, such as a needle biopsy (See Kim, C. H. et al. J. Virol. 66:3879-3882 (1992)); Biswas, B. et al. Annals NY Acad. Sci. 590:582-583 (1990)); Biswas, B. et al. J. Clin. Microbiol. 29:2228-2233 (1991). The tissue is to be processed in a manner that allows accurate detection and quantitation of EGFR and downstream effector proteins (e.g., Erk and AKT). The tissue sample may be prepared in a tissue microarray format and sectioned or may comprise a whole tissue section. Sections are typically prepared on microscope slides. For example, paraffin-embedded formalin-fixed specimens may be prepared, cores taken from separate areas of the specimens, each core arrayed into a recipient block, and sections cut and processed as previously described, for example, in Konenen, J. et al., Tissue microarrays for high-throughput molecular profiling of tumor specimens, (1987) Nat. Med. 4:844-7. When analyzing tissue samples from individuals, it may be important to prevent any changes, physiological processing or degradation, particularly in protein expression after the tissue or cells has been removed from the subject. Changes in expression levels are known to change rapidly following perturbations, e.g., heat shock or activation with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or other reagents. In addition, the RNA and proteins in the tissue and cells may quickly become degraded. Accordingly, tissues obtained from a subject are ideally immediately fixed or frozen. Tissue specimens may also include xenograft tumor samples, particularly those from animals in drug dose ranging or toxicology studies.

Quantitation. Any suitable method of quantitating EGFR and quantitating and localizing downstream effector molecules may be used in the present methods. One preferred method utilizes immunohistochemistry, a staining method based on immunoenzymatic reactions using monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies to detect cells or specific proteins such as tissue antigens. Typically, immunohistochemistry protocols involve at least some of the following steps: 1) antigen retrieval (eg., by pressure cooking, protease treatment, microwaving, heating in appropriate buffers, etc.); 2) application of primary antibody and washing; 3) application of labeled secondary antibody that binds to primary antibody (often a second antibody conjugate that enables the detection in step 5) and wash; 4) an amplification step may be included; 5) application of detection reagent (e.g. chromagen, fluorescently tagged molecule or any molecule having an appropriate dynamic range to achieve the level of or sensitivity required for the assay); 6) counterstaining may be used and 7) detection using a detection system that makes the presence of the proteins visible (to either the human eye or an automated analysis system), for qualitative or quantitative analyses. Various immunoenzymatic staining methods are known in the art for detecting a protein of interest. For example, immunoenzymatic interactions can be visualized using different enzymes such as peroxidase, alkaline phosphatase, or different chromogens such as DAB, AEC, or Fast Red; or fluorescent labels such as FITC, Cy3, Cy5, Cy7, Alexafluors, etc. Counterstains may include H&E, DAPI, Hoechst, so long as such stains are compatable with other detection reagents and the visualization strategy used. As known in the art, amplification reagents may be used to intensify staining signal. For example, tyramide reagents may be used. The staining methods of the present invention may be accomplished using any suitable method or system as would be apparent to one of skill in the art, including automated, semi-automated or manual systems.

The level of a receptor protein and downstream effector molecule(s) can be analyzed using an appropriate specific antibody as would be understood by one of skill in the art. Total protein level or specifically phosphorylated protein level may be determined.

The methods of the present invention may be accomplished using suitable methods or systems for analysis of immunohistochemistry, as will be apparent to one skilled in the art, including automated systems, quantitative IHC, and under some circumstances but less preferred, semi-quantitative IHC, and manual methods. As used herein, “quantitative” immunohistochemistry refers to a method, which may be automated of scanning and scoring IHC stained tissue to identify and quantitate the presence of a specified biomarker, such as an antigen or other protein. The score given to the sample may be a numerical representation of the intensity or optical density (OD) of the immunohistochemical staining of the sample, and represents the amount of target biomarker present in the sample. The quantitative measurement may be relative or absolute. For example, control specimens in the IHC assay may be correlated to ELISA results obtained for the same control specimens, thereby generating a standard curve for determining absolute concentrations of the biomarker in the tissue specimens. The score may represent the staining intensity or OD divided by unit area or percentage of cells stained. As used herein, semi-quantitative immunohistochemistry refers to scoring of immunohistochemical results for example by human eye, where a trained operator ranks results numerically (e.g., as 0, 1+, 2+ or 3+). Most preferred is quantitative immunohistochemistry that provides results on a continuous scale.

Various automated sample processing, scanning and analysis systems suitable for use with immunohistochemistry are known in the art. Such systems may include automated staining and microscopic scanning, computerized image analysis, serial section comparison (to control for variation in the orientation and size of a sample), digital report generation, and archiving and tracking of samples (such as slides on which tissue sections are placed). Cellular imaging systems are commercially available that combine conventional light, fluorescent or confocal microscopes with digital image processing systems to perform quantitative analysis on cells and tissues, including immunostained samples. See, e.g., the CAS-200 system (Becton, Dickinson & Co.); BLISS and IHCscore of Bacus Laboratories, Inc. (Lombard, Ill.); ACIS of Clarient, Inc. (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.); iVision and GenoMx of BioGenex (San Ramon, Calif.); ScanScope of Aperio Technologies (Vista, Calif.); Ariol SL-50 of Applied Imaging Corporation (San Jose, Calif.); LSC Laser Scanning Cytometer of CompuCyte Corporation (Cambridge, Mass.); and AQUA® of HistoRx Inc. (New Haven, Conn.).

In certain embodiments, the level of expression (and/or modification such as phosphorylation) of the receptor protein and downstream effector molecule biomarkers in stained tissue sections is determined using AQUA® technology, which allows quantitative measurements of protein expression within sub-cellular compartments that results, for example, in a number directly proportional to the number of molecules expressed per unit area. (see Camp, R. L., Chung, G. G. & Rimm, D. L. Automated subcellular localization and quantification of protein expression in tissue microarrays. Nat Med 8, 1323-7 (2002), as well as PCT/US02/12084, both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties). Subcellular compartments can include morphologically defined compartments or molecularly defined compartments. A subcellular compartment may be the cell membrane, cell cytoplasm, nucleus, lysosome, ER, golgi, etc.

Methods of quantitatively determining biomarker expression may comprise determining the subcellular location of the biomarkers in the cell, as well as the quantity of total or phosphorylated protein in select subcellular compartments of the cell. AQUA® technology is an example of a method which accomplishes both of these goals. An embodiment of the methods of the invention wherein AQUA® technology is used to quantitate biomarkers in tissue is described in the Exemplification below.

Various methodologies may be used for representing the relationship between the receptor protein and the downstream effector molecules.

The signal transduction pathway activity may be represented by the relationship between the receptor protein expression level and the downstream effector molecule or molecules expression levels. This relationship may be represented by a ratio of receptor:effector, receptor to multiple effectors, individually or in combination (for example, a combination of an average, mean, median or determination based upon an optimal cutpoint, or clustal determination). Furthermore the receptor protein expression level may be related to the downstream effector molecule expression level in a particular subcellular compartment (for example receptor: effector cytoplasmic expression or receptor:effector nuclear expression). In one embodiment, the receptor protein expression level is related to the ratio of the effector expression ratio in one compartment to another, i.e cytoplasmic:nuclear ratio. Since many receptor molecules transmit their activation signal through multiple pathways it may be desirable to combine the receptor expression level with multiple effector molecules representing one or more of the possible pathways. For example, EGFR upon ligand binding homo-dimerizes or heterodimerizes triggering tyrosine phosphorylation of the receptor sub-units. Intracellular tyrosine kinases of the Src family and Abl family are also able to tyrosine phosphorylate EGFR receptors, allowing proteins to bind through the Src homology 2 (SH2) domains leading to activation of downstream signaling cascades including 1) the RAS/ERK pathway, 2) the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3k) pathway and 3) the Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription (JAK/STAT) pathway. The pathways are thought to act in a coordinated manner to promote cell survival, particularly in certain cancers. Therefore to determine the EGFR signal transduction activation status, an assay may include EGFR and effector molecules (total and/or phosphylated) from the ERK pathway, the PI3k pathway and/or the JAK/STAT pathway. The ERK pathway effector molecules include Grb2, RAS, RAF1, MEK1, MEK2, ERK1 and ERK2. The PI3k pathway effector molecules include AKT, mTOR, 70s6k, eIF4B, 4E-BP1, GSK3, eIF2B, NFkB, and CREB. The JAK/STAT pathway effector molecules include JAK and STAT. (See Asnaghi L et al 2004, Pharmacol Res 50:545-549; Henson E. S., et al 2006 Cell Sig.; Jorrissen R. N. et al 2003 Exp. Cell Res. 284: 31-53; Kisseleva T. et al 2002 Gene 285:1-24; Lizcano J. M et al. 2002 Curr Bio. 12:236-238; Nair P. 2005 Curr Sci. 88:890-898; Yarden Y 2001 Eur. J. Cancer 37:S3-S8.) In a particular embodiment an EGFR signal transduction activity assay specifically measures expression of the end effector molecules for one or more of the pathways, i.e. ERK, AKT and/or STAT. As these molecules translocate from the cytoplasm to the nucleus when the pathway is active, in a particular embodiment of the present invention the cytoplasmic and nuclear levels of these end effector molecules is determined. Furthermore, in a particular embodiment an EGFR signal transduction activity assay includes determination of the ratio of cytoplasmic to nuclear AKT, ERK and/or STAT expression levels. In yet another embodiment, the cytoplasmic to nuclear effector expression ratios are averaged to provide a signaling quotient.

The present invention provides kits for practice of the afore-described methods. In certain embodiments, kits may comprise antibodies against biomarkers and appropriate reagents. Reagents may include blocking reagents, primary antibodies, secondary antibodies, amplification systems, detection reagents (chromogen, fluorophore, etc), dilution buffers, washing solutions, mounting solutions, counterstains or any combination thereof. Kit components may be packaged for either manual or partially or wholly automated practice of the foregoing methods. In other embodiments involving kits, this invention contemplates a kit including compositions of the present invention, and optionally instructions for their use. Such kits may have a variety of uses, including, for example, imaging, stratifying patient populations, diagnosis, prognosis, guiding therapeutic treatment decisions, and other applications.

The quantitation of EGFR and at least one effector molecule in the nucleus and the cytoplasm can be analyzed using an appropriate antibody. Antibodies to EGFR are commercially available, (e.g., PharmDx Kit; DAKO, Carpinteria, Calif.). Antibodies to Akt1 (e.g, mouse monoclonal, clone 2H10; Cell Signaling Technology, Danvers, Mass.) and Erk1/2 (e.g., mouse polyclonal; Cell Signaling Technology, Danvers, Mass.) are also commercially available. Antibodies specific for Ser(473)phospho-AKT are available (see, e.g., Srinivasan et al., Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 2002 October; 283(4):E784-93). Antibodies that react with p-erk1 and p-erk2 are commercially available (e.g., from Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Santa Cruz, Ca); see also U.S. Pat. No. 6,001,580). Further antibodies are available from Calbiochem® (Calbiochem General Catalog, 2006-2007). Other commercial sources for appropriate antibodies are known in the art. In certain embodiments, the level of expression (and/or modification such as phosphorylation) of the biomarkers is determined by determining the AQUA® technology score of each biomarker in the panel, e.g., by using the AQUA® technology automated pathology system. AQUA® technology (for Automated Quantitative Analysis) is a method of analysis of absolute measurement of protein expression in situ. This method allows measurements of protein expression within sub-cellular compartments that results in a number directly proportional to the number of molecules expressed per unit area.

This method, including details of out-of-focus light subtraction imaging methods, is described in detail in Camp, R. L., Chung, G. G. & Rimm, D. L. Automated subcellular localization and quantification of protein expression in tissue microarrays. Nat Med 8, 1323-7 (2002)), as well as PCT/US02/12084, both of which reference are incorporated herein in their entireties. AQUA® is a method of analysis of absolute measurement of protein expression in situ. This method allows measurements of protein expression within sub-cellular compartments that for example results in a number directly proportional to the number of molecules expressed per unit area. Briefly, for example, to measure Akt the tissue is “masked” using an image of keratin staining obtained in one channel to determine the area of tumor and to remove the stromal and other non-tumor material from analysis. Alternatively, an image of EGFR staining may be used to generate the tumor mask. An image of DAPI staining obtained in a second channel is used in comparison to the tumor staining to define a nuclear and cytoplasmic compartment. The intensity of expression of Akt is measured by detecting the Akt staining using a third channel. The intensity of expression of a second effector molecule (for example Erk or STAT2) is measured by detecting the second effector molecule in a fourth channel. An AQUA score for a specific subcellular compartment may be generated using the intensity of that subset of pixels assigned to the compartment divided by the number of pixels. This score is directly proportional to the number of molecules of Akt per unit area of subcellular compartment in the, and may be standardized and absolute values determined using a standard curve of scores obtained for cell lines with known levels of Akt protein expression. This method is described in detail in a Nature Medicine paper (Camp, R. L., Chung, G. G. & Rimm, D. L. Automated subcellular localization and quantification of protein expression in tissue microarrays. Nat. Med 8, 1323-7 (2002)), as well as U.S. Ser. No. 10/062,308, filed Feb. 1, 2002, which published as WO 02/086498 are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

An exemplary embodiment of the methods of the invention wherein AQUA® technology is used to quantitate biomarkers in tissue is described in the Exemplification below Methods of quantitatively determining biomarker expression may comprise determining the subcellular location of the biomarkers in the cell, as well as the quantity or phosphorylated state of the biomarkers of the cell. AQUA® technology is an example of a method which accomplishes both of these goals.

Exemplification

The present invention is further illustrated by the following examples, which should not be construed as limiting in any way. The practice of the present invention will employ, unless otherwise indicated, conventional techniques of cell biology, cell culture, molecular biology, transgenic biology, microbiology, recombinant DNA, and immunology, which are within the skill of the art. Such techniques are explained fully in the literature. (See, for example, Molecular Cloning A Laboratory Manual, 2nd Ed., ed. by Sambrook, Fritsch and Maniatis (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press: 1989); DNA Cloning, Volumes I and II (D. N. Glover ed., 1985); and Immunochemical Methods In Cell And Molecular Biology (Mayer and Walker, eds., Academic Press, London, 1987).

Methods for Obtaining EGFR Signaling Profiles

Materials and Methods

Tissue Microarray Design and Processing

Paraffin-embedded formalin fixed specimens from 213 cases of non-small lung carcinomas (1996-2003) were obtained, as available, from the archives of the Yale University, Department of Pathology. Each tumor sample was marked for areas of invasive carcinoma, away from in situ lesions and normal epithelium, and 0.6 mm cores were taken in duplicate. Each core was arrayed into recipient blocks in a 1 mm-spaced grid, and 5-micron thick sections were cut and processed as previously described (Kononen, J. et al. 1998 Tissue microarrays for high-throughput molecular profiling of tumor specimens. Nature Medicine. 4, 844-847).

Immunohistochemistry

In brief, pre-cut paraffin-coated tissue microarray slides were deparaffinized and antigen-retrieved by Proteinase K (EGFR, PharmDx kit, DAKO, Carpinteria, Calif.) or pressure-cooking for 10 minutes in citrate pH 6.0 (all other primary antibodies, see below). Slides were pre-incubated with 0.3% bovine serum albumin in 0.1M tris-buffered saline (pH 8.0) (BSA/TBS) for 60 min at room temperature. Slides were then incubated with primary antibodies against EGFR (PharmDx Kit, used undiluted; DAKO, Carpinteria, Calif.), or Akt1 (mouse monoclonal, clone 2H10, diluted 1:200; Cell Signaling Technology, Danvers, Mass.) or Erk1/2 (mouse polyclonal, diluted 1:100; Cell Signaling Technology, Danvers, Mass.) or Stat3 (rabbit monoclonal, clone 124H6, diluted 1:500; Cell Signaling Technology, Danvers, Mass.) and pan-cytokeratin (either mouse or rabbit polyclonal, 1:100 dilution, DAKO, Carpinteria, Calif.) diluted in BSA/TBS overnight at 4° C. Slides were washed 3×10 min with 1×TBS containing 0.05% Tween-20. Corresponding secondary antibodies were applied for 1 h at room temperature in BSA/TBS. These included either antibodies directly conjugated to a fluorphore for anti-cytokeratin (Alexa 488-conjugated goat anti-rabbit; 1:100, Molecular Probes, Eugene, Oreg.), and/or conjugated to a horseradish peroxidase (HRP) for anti-thymidylate synthase (DAKO, Carpinteria, Calif.). Slides were again washed 3×10 min with TBS containing 0.05% Tween-20. Slides were incubated with a fluorescent chromagen (Cy-5-tyramide, NEN Life Science Products, Boston, Mass.) which, like DAB, is activated by HRP and results in the deposition of numerous covalently associated Cy-5 dyes immediately adjacent to the HRP-conjugated secondary antibody. Cy-5 (red) was used because its emission peak is well outside the green-orange spectrum of tissue autofluorescence. Slides for automated analysis were coverslipped with an antifade DAPI-containing mounting medium (Prolong Gold, Molecular Probes, Eugene, Oreg.).

Image Acquisition

Images acquisition was performed as previously described (Camp R L et al. 2002 Automated subcellular localization and quantification of protein expression in tissue microarrays. Nature Medicine. 8(11): 1323-1327). In brief, images of microarrays were obtained using a Deltavision platform and software (SoftWorx 2.5; Applied Precision, Issaquah, Wash.), with an attached water-cooled Photometrics series 300 camera through a ×10 Nikon Super-Fluor lens on a TE200 inverted fluorescent microscope with automated x, y, z stage movement. Low power images of microarrays were stitched together using multiple (˜1500) low-resolution images of the microarray (64×64 pixel) at approximately 7-micron resolution. Specimen cores (Histospots) were identified using signal from DAPI. The coordinates of each histospot were then recorded. Subsequently, monochromatic, high-resolution (1024×1024 pixel, 0.5-micron resolution) images were obtained of each histospot, both in the plane of focus and 8 microns below it, and recorded in an image stack as bitmaps. Images were obtained using a dynamic range of 0-1024, but saved and analyzed as 8-bit tiff images with a dynamic range of 0-255.

AQUA® Analysis (RESA/PLACE Algorithms)

AQUA® analysis was performed as previously described (Camp R L et al. 2002 Automated subcellular localization and quantification of protein expression in tissue microarrays. Nature Medicine. 8(11): 1323-1327). In brief, a tumor-specific mask is generated by thresholding the image of a marker (cytokeratin) that differentiates tumor from surrounding stroma and/or leukocytes. This creates a binary mask (each pixel is either ‘on’ or ‘off’. Thresholding levels were verified by spot-checking a few images and then automated for the remaining images. All subsequent image manipulations involve only image information from the masked area. Next, two images (one in-focus, one slightly deeper) are taken of the compartment-specific tags and the target marker. A percentage of the out-of-focus image is subtracted from the in-focus image, based on a pixel-by-pixel analysis of the two images. The overall degree of subtraction is based on a user-defined percentage for each subcellular compartment. For most applications this is empirically set to 40% of the total signal, and remains constant for images from an entire microarray. RESA thus eliminates all out-of-focus information. The algorithm has the added benefit of enhancing the interface between areas of higher intensity staining and adjacent areas of lower intensity staining, allowing more accurate assignment of pixels of adjacent compartments. In contrast to the compartment specific tags, the RESA subtraction of the target signal is uniform and not based on overall intensity of the image intensity. This ensures that the same amount of subtraction occurs with the target signal from all specimens. Finally, the PLACE algorithm assigns each pixel in the image to a specific subcellular compartment. Pixels that cannot be accurately assigned to a compartment to within a user-defined degree of confidence (usually 95%) are discarded. This is accomplished iteratively by determining the ratio of signal from two compartment-specific markers that minimizes the spillover of marker from one compartment into another. Pixels where the nuclear and membrane pixel intensities are too similar to be accurately assigned are negated (usually comprising <8% of the total pixels). A third compartment (the cytoplasm) can be defined by exclusion (non-membrane, non-nuclear). Once each pixel is assigned to a subcellular compartment (or excluded as described above), the signal in each location is added up. This data is saved and can subsequently be expressed either as a percentage of total signal or as the average signal intensity per compartment area. The score is expressed on a scale of 1 to 1000.

Data Analysis

Histospot containing <10% tumor, as by mask area (automated), were excluded from further analysis. Our previous studies have demonstrated that scores from the average of two histospots matches the score from an entire tissue section >95% of the time (Camp, R L et al. 2002 Validation of tissue microarray technology in breast carcinoma. Lab. Invest. 80:1943-1949). Each patient tumor is represented by two independent tissue cores for these analyses, and, subsequently, AQUA® scores were averaged for each patient. Furthermore, regression analysis was performed for each marker examined as a metric for experimental reproducibility as well as expression heterogeneity with Pearson R values <0.4 considering experimental error, from 0.4 to 0.7 considered heterogeneous expression, and >0.7 considered homogenous expression. Pearson R-values for each biomarker are as follows: EGFR, 0.78; Akt1, 0.44; Erk1/2, 0.55, and Stat3, 0.69. For independent survival analysis, optimal cutpoints were selected using X-Tile™ as described previously (Camp, R L et al. 2004, X-tile: a new bio-informatics tool for biomarker assessment and outcome-based cut-point optimization. Clinical Cancer Research 10(21):7252-7259). Monte-carlo simulations were employed since Mantel-Cox log-rank scoring is not of sufficient statistical rigor for optimal cutpoint selection. For additional statistical rigor, optimal cutpoints were determined on ⅓ of the cohort (training set) and applied to the other ⅔ of the cohort (validation set). Unsupervised and supervised hierarchical clustering analysis was performed using Cluster Software and viewed using TreeView Software for visualization of clusters (Eisen Laboratory at Stanford University). Subsequent survival analysis was performed using SPSS v14.01 (SPSS, Inc., Chicago, Ill.) and R (GNU, Boston, Mass.).

Results

Survival Analysis

Examination of EGFR expression by AQUA® analysis revealed the top 25% of EGFR expressing NSCLC tumors (equivalent to a relative AQUA® score of 12; see histogram (inset, FIG. 1)) to have a statistically significant 25% decrease in three-year disease-specific survival (FIG. 1).

AQUA® analysis of key downstream signaling effectors for the EGFR pathway: Akt1, Erk1/2, and Stat3 revealed that total expression of Erk1/2 and Stat3, but not Akt1, had a significant effect on decreased overall survival (data not shown).

AQUA® analysis was used to quantitatively assess expression between sub-cellular compartments, in particular the ratio of nuclear:cytoplasmic expression for each marker. The ratios of each marker, individually did not correlate with survival. It was expected that the ratio of nuclear:cytoplasmic expression for effector molecules Akt1, Erk1/2 and Stat3 would indicate that particular pathway was active.

Hierarchical Clustering

To assess the predictive power of individual downstream effectors as a function of the upstream receptor EGFR, a supervised hierarchical clustering analysis was performed by grouping specimens by EGFR expression and investigating trends with respect to the nuclear:cytoplasmic ratios of the key downstream effectors: Akt1, Erk1/2, and Stat3. As demonstrated in FIG. 2A, four key groups of tumors were observed (FIG. 2A). Group 1 tumors had low EGFR expression with high nuclear:cytoplasmic ratios of downstream effectors. Group 2 had high EGFR expression with high nuclear:cytoplasmic ratios. Group 3 tumors had low EGFR expression with low nuclear:cytoplasmic ratios and Group 4 had high EGFR expression with low nuclear:cytoplasmic ratios. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis demonstrated that there was not a significant difference in survival between these groups (FIG. 2B).

Signaling Quotient

The 4 groups observed with the hierarchical clustering analysis prompted an analysis based on more strict groupings based on two parameters: 1.) the optimal cutpoints (FIGS. 3A) and 2.) the mean (Z-score=0; FIG. 4A) cutpoints for EGFR expression and the average nuclear:cytoplasmic ratios of the downstream effector molecules (termed “signaling quotient”). FIGS. 3B and 4B demonstrate that the signaling quotient alone does not significantly correlate with overall survival. However, combining EGFR expression with the signaling quotient resulted in significant (FIG. 3C; p=0.008) observed differences in three-year disease specific survival between all four groups based on optimal cutpoint analysis with the group representing high EGFR with a low “signaling quotient” (Group C) having the lowest overall survival. In another analysis in which the mean was used as the cutpoint (FIG. 4C), there was a significant overall difference in survival between groups (p=0.028), and Group C (high EGFR, low signaling quotient) demonstrated a more highly significant correlation with decreased overall survival as compared to the other groups (p=0.004).

REFERENCES

Incorporated by reference in their entirety are accession numbers from the public database of the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) on the world wide web at ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, which correspond to any polynucleotide or polypeptide sequences referred to herein. The contents of all cited references, as cited throughout this application, are hereby expressly incorporated by reference. 

1. A method for measuring activity of a signal transduction pathway in a tissue section comprising: a) staining the tissue section with a reagent to detect a cell receptor protein; and b) staining the tissue section with a second reagent to detect an effector molecule, the effector molecule being a member of the signal transduction pathway related to the cell receptor protein; c) using an optical microscope, obtaining a high resolution digital image of the stained cell receptor protein in the tissue section and of the stained effector molecule in the tissue section; and d) analyzing the digital image to quantitate an amount of the cell receptor protein present in the tissue section and an amount of effector molecule present in the tissue section; thereby determining the signal transduction activity in the tissue section.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the tissue section comprises a cell or plurality of cells suspected to be cancerous.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the tissue section is fixed.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the tissue section is adhered to a microscope slide.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the cell receptor protein is an epidermal growth factor receptor.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the cell receptor protein is EFGR.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the effector molecule is selected from the group consisting of Grb2, Ras, ERK1, ERK2, RAF1, MEK1, MEK2, AKT, pAKT, GSK3, pGSK3, mTOR, 70s6k, eIF4B, 4E-BPI, eIF2B, NFkB, CREB, JAK, and STAT.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the effector molecule is selected from the group consisting of AKT, ERK, and STAT.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the second reagent is used to determine a total effector molecule expression amount.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the second reagent is used to determine a phosphorylated effector molecule expression amount.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the effector molecule is an end effector.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein the amount of the effector molecule in one or more subcellular compartments is quantitated.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the one or more subcellular compartments are selected from the group consisting of a cell nucleus and a cell cytoplasm.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein the signal transduction activity is further correlated with that determined for a specific prognostic outcome.
 15. The method of claim 1, wherein the signal transduction activity is further correlated with that determined for a specific therapeutic outcome.
 16. The method of claim 1, wherein the staining in steps a) and b) is by an immunohistochemical method.
 17. A method for measuring activity of a signal transduction pathway in a tissue section comprising: a) obtaining a high resolution digital image of a tissue section stained with a reagent to detect a cell receptor protein; and b) obtaining a high resolution digital image of a tissue section stained with a second reagent to detect an effector molecule, the effector molecule being a member of the signal transduction pathway related to the cell receptor protein; and c) analyzing the digital images to quantitate an amount of the cell receptor protein present in the tissue section and an amount of effector molecule present in the tissue section; thereby determining the signal transduction activity in the tissue section. 